Is the idea of "2 + 2 = 4" cultural?

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. Google still has a cache of the twitter thread

I would say she still comes across as full of shit:

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:B3PjyjicHuAJ:http s://twitter.com/brittanylm3281/status/1279980164756242433+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Here's what I can get from the cache (there are more replies after):

Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones
I wonder if folks always talking about “standards” ever stop to consider that it’s their so-called standards that are the actual problem.

Chris @CeJayGe
Woke Minis
2+2=4: A perspective in white, Western mathematics that marginalizes other possible values

Brittany Marshall @brittanylm3281

British researcher Alan Bishop wrote about how mathematics was western imperialism’s secret tool. Also American researcher Danny Martin talks about the whiteness of math spaces in education. I won’t go too far into it but 2 apples + 2 cars don’t equal 4 anything.

John Dawkins @johndawkins
It does amount to 4 “objects” or “items” or ...

Marshall:
It’s not real. Every culture had their own ways of categorizing, measuring, and recognizing patterns. European imperialists created & stole from others then forced its symbols and reasoning on the world; convincing different cultures that their original ways weren’t valid.

Dawkins:
The notion “object” is a European invention or it was “stolen”?

Marshall:
Nope the idea of 2 + 2 equaling 4 is cultural and because of western imperialism/colonization, we think of it as the only way of knowing.

Dawkins:
But people have been counting, and thereby abstracting the idea of number for a long time.

Marshall:
Of course, since the beginning of time... but different cultures didn’t use the same numbers & symbols nor did they have the same meanings. It’s like how some words in different languages don’t have a translation in English.
[more replies]

Ariana B. @TheAriBella

This is interesting ti me only b/c going back and forth with #ADOS about reparations, they seemed to have no understanding of the fact that acquiring skills enables people to create wealth. If you won't master 2+2=4 you cannot be a programmer, engineer, doctor, architect, etc.

Marshall:
Somehow discussing that different cultures used measurement and comparisons differently before Western Imperialism became I'm a moron and a host of other derogatory words. I didn't realize discussing the history of math would make people so angry. Also, I'm a trained architect

Frankly, I wouldn't trust a "trained architect" who doesn't know the difference between counting in abstract or unitless terms, and measurement. And putting this down to "Western Imperialism" is bullshit. I do tend to see her as a moron.